Piloxing

Piloxing uniquely blends boxing with pilates in one fluid motion (no standing up, then lying down-you'll perform everything from an upright position). The workout is straightforward and non complex.

The class is varied with students of all abilities. Some choose to perform the workout in barefeet which is doable as the workout is low impact (however if you are on a hard surface shoes may be a good option).

The set appears to be inside a real boxing studio. The girls are all wearing black and pink. The music is fast and edgy. (the background girls really get into it as several times they will let out a "whoop")

Viveca begins with a warmup that includes gentle punches and arm swings. She also includes dynamic stretches and twists. It's quick, about 3-4 minutes, but effectively prepares you for the main workout.

The main workout runs about 45-46 minutes. You'll see all the boxing basics: jabs, hooks, upper cuts, etc. The pilates movements are rhythmic, sometimes moving very quickly. (your heart rate never really comes down) Viveca shows lower impact options for higher impact moves. For added intensity and to tone the arms even further, you'll wear 1 lb hand weights.

A floorwork segment that works the legs and glutes follows the cardio section. This really compliments the standing pilates. Viveca also includes abdominal work to tone and tighten the midsection. A nice stretch concludes the workout.

Viveca creatively blends the two disciplines. I enjoyed how she took it up real high with the boxing segments and brought it down (sometimes only slightly) with the standing pilates combinations. My 18 year old daughter has been using the workout in her own personal workout rotation and loves it!!

Instructor Comments:
Viveca has high energy and provides form pointers.

DeniseR

Nice workout! It alternates boxing combinations ("power") with standing ballet/Pilates work ("feminine"), plus about 10 minutes of floorwork for abs and butt. Total workout was just under an hour, with a 4-minute warmup/stretch.

Boxing sections seemed shorter than the pilates sections, maybe 5 minutes as compared to 10 (just guestimating). Jab, fast jabs, jab corner to corner with fast feet, cross-body punch (like Taebo), jab-jab-cross-jab-cross-country skis etc. are fun but go by all too fast. There is also Taebo-like standing side crunches, but she then does them at different angles as well.

Pilates/ballet work was quite a balance challenge. For instance, you do leg flutters to the front, side and back and add in arms, so your standing leg gets really worked. There are plies side to side, first- and second-position plies, and standing arm work like flutters and weightless curls and kickbacks (again, compounded with leg pulses).

Floorwork included modified 100, torso twists and punches while in the C-sit, crunches and bicycles (no plankwork!) Butt work included donkey kicks coupled with mini-pushups (felt somewhat awkward to me), fire-hydrant leg lifts and side leg lifts while on all fours.

The setting is a gym with a boxing ring in the background. Music is generic Dynamix stuff, not very loud but audible enough. The backgrounders looked like normal, fit women, no glossy Playboy bunny types.

I felt I got a nice moderate-intensity cardio with light toning workout. Some very creative standing ballet/Pilates work that definitely challenged my balance.

Instructor Comments:
Stylish, European-esque instructor, very lively and "woman power" oriented. Her students whooped a lot in a very practiced way but it wasn't overly intrusive.

acey

What a FUN workout! Piloxing runs over an hour (when you include the mat and stretch at the end) but time goes quickly. It alternates between standing toning/pilates/barre moves and "power moves" (boxing movements)....some segments combine the 2 types. It is set beside a boxing ring, with hot pink and black being the primary decoration colors.

I generally am not a fan of boxing or kickboxing (don't ask me why I felt the need to buy this workout)...but I'm glad I got it! It is not easy, though. I worked up a good sweat (this is with pausing half-way through to change a diaper, talk to DH, get some water, take off my hand-weights)....plus I stopped at the 50 min mark, which is where she begins the mat work and stretch.

I liked the short segments. Viveca would do a move for a minute or 2, sometimes adding an additional arm or leg movement, and then move on to something completely new. No getting bored or no TIFTing...just lots of fun moves. And if they were doing a section that I didn't "feel" (like a certain samba/sexy moves section) I just skip it and voila! Moving on!

There were some parts that I couldn't do because of the double-time speed....I just slowed them down or took breaks.

Instructor Comments:
Viveca is engaging and encouraging. I like the class atmosphere, most of the backgrounders seemed to be having a good time. I will note: there is a lot of WHOOPING (didn't bother me) and quite a bit of "sexy" talk (which did bother me)....but I enjoyed it enough that I will look past it.

Alisoncooks

This is a 62 minute boxing & pilates fusion workout. Viveca works out in a cute black & pink boxing gym with a group of background exercisers. Some workout with shoes, some without. You wont need any equipment for this workout but you can wear weighted gloves to amp up the intensity as do many of the participants of this dvd. The dvd is chaptered.

After a quick warmup you move into the body of the workout. Viveca does a great job of blending boxing with pilates & ballet movements. You perform a variety of standing pilates/ ballet style exercises alternated with boxing combos and conclude with a pilates floor work section & a cooldown.

Standing Exercises include: punch combos (Viveca often adds in lower body movements to up the cardio), static lunge holds, standing isometric lower body work, lots of good balance work, arm circles, tricep pushups, punch combos w/ skiing, speedbag, salsa, fast feet, standing oblique crunches, etc. Floor work includes donkey kick variations, mini pushups, the hundred, punching torso twist, etc.

I would rate this a lower intermediate workout. Viveca includes a good number of reps- enough to feel the burn but not so many to "rep you to death." The workout has a great positive energy, great music, smooth transitions, fun but not overly complicated choreography, and is very unique! Viveca refers to being sexy, and feminine but strong in the workout. I received this dvd to review.

lindseylu8